NEWTON, NC — Authorities say 16-year-old Selena Lewis was killed when a man accidentally shot her while she took a picture of him holding a rifle.

Lewis was with Christopher Lynch, 21, and a man that she had just met, Clayton Webb Jr., 21, when they went to the home of a man selling a Ruger .22 caliber rifle that Webb was interested in purchasing.

The seller was not home, but he had left the rifle in his truck so they could check it out. According to Catawba County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Joel Fish, Lewis suggested they take a picture of the rifle.

Webb told officers that he didn’t realize that there was a magazine in the rifle, and everyone figured it out the hard way when he accidentally fired the rifle and hit Lewis in the chest as she was taking a picture of him. Lewis was rushed to a nearby hospital, but died before she could be flown to a Charlotte hospital.

No charges have been filed against Webb or Lynch at this time, but the sheriff’s office is continuing their investigation into the incident.…

HOUSTON, TX – Gonzalo Ramiro, 9, and Alvaro Ramiro, 6, both drowned when the zipped tent they were playing in somehow found its way into the family swimming pool.

Investigators said the boys were at home with their 12-year-old sister in the care of a nanny while their mother ran errands. When the mother returned home, she found the boys in the backyard pool.

The sister ran for help and located an officer who works security in the neighborhood and told him her brothers were drowning. He ran to the house and pulled one boy out of the water as the nanny pulled out the other.

The officer and the nanny performed CPR on the boys until paramedics arrived. They were both taken to Texas Children’s Hospital West campus where they were both pronounced dead.

Houston police and Harris County Child Protective Services are investigating the deaths, and how the tent ended up in the pool in the first place.

HCCPS spokeswoman Shari Pulliam advised parents to watch their children closely if they are playing near water to prevent shit like this from happening.…

SPRING HILL, FL – A 2-year-old boy had his foot amputated after his mother, 33-year-old Tiffany Collins, accidentally ran over his leg with a lawnmower.

According the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, Collins was riding a commercial zero-turn mower when her son, 2-year-old Zayden Collins, ran towards her and slipped in the wet grass.

Collins tried to shut off the mower before her son’s right foot slid underneath it, but she wasn’t quick enough and the blades ended up amputating the poor kid’s foot approximately three inches above the ankle.

Zayden was flown to Tampa General Hospital First where doctors were not able to re-attach his foot, despite first responders packing it in ice. Zayden has undergone two surgeries as of Sunday, according to family members, and doctors are checking for any possible nerve damage.

“He’s in more pain [Sunday] than he was [Saturday], so they have some medication running through him to help him out,” said Zayden’s uncle, Christopher Littlepage.

Collins is suffering some backlash from the social media peanut gallery regarding her decision to leave Zayden unsupervised.…

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – A 4-year-old girl died after she accidentally hanged herself with clothing while trying to reach for something in her room.

The girl was alone in her room when her mother and stepfather found her hanging by her neck from clothing that had been hanging on the back of a door. She was taken to Hackley Hospital in Muskegon but later air-lifted in critical condition to Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids.

Unfortunately, Capt. Mark Bennett of the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department said the girl died from her injuries on Tuesday.

“The investigation into this incident is ongoing,” Bennett said. “However, at this point, it does appear that the 4-year-old may have become entangled in clothing that was hanging from the back of a bedroom door. This may have occurred while the youngster was standing on a toy trying to reach an item up high.”

No charges have been filed at this time, but Bennett said detectives are still conducting interviews and analyzing evidence, and that a forensic autopsy will be performed within the next few days to find the exact cause of death.…

Grimes and two others were on a rope swing ride at the camp, a pendulum type swing that holds three people, when she somehow became disconnected from her harness and plummeted 100 feet to the ground.

Emergency personnel administered CPR, but the coroner’s office pronounced Grimes dead on the scene. The two other campers who were on the swing with Grimes were not harmed.

The camp, run by the Christian organization Young Life, stated the ride was being operated by two camp employees at the time of the incident, and they currently don’t know what went wrong. Terry Swenson of Young Life headquarters in Colorado Springs released the following statement.

“Safety is our highest priority at Young Life camps. For all rides at our camps (including the swings), we observe strict protocols regarding upkeep of equipment as well as safety training and operating procedures.

We have swings at 13 of our camps; all are currently closed as a measure of precaution and to ensure a safe experience for our campers.…

The 22-year-old was drinking with friends in the backyard of a home Saturday night, when he got the bright idea to launch a reloadable fireworks mortar tube from the top of his head.

Despite his friends’ warnings not to do something so goddamn stupid and irresponsible, Staples did it anyway. According to Stephen McCausland, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety, Staples was killed instantly when the firework exploded.

Staples’ brother was only a few feet away when the firework exploded and said there was nothing they could do to help Staples afterwards.

“There was no rushing him to the hospital. There was no Devon left when I got there,” said Cody Staples.

Aside from the Darwin Award nomination, Staples is also the first fireworks fatality in Maine since they legalized them on Jan. 1, 2012. Until that day, fireworks had been illegal in Maine for over 50 years.…

RAYMOND, ME — Timothy Small died after he fell into a fire pit, seriously burning over half is body, then refusing to seek medical help.

On Friday night, Small was with friends drinking around a rock-lined fire pit in his backyard. By 2 a.m. Saturday, he was alone and somehow managed to fall into the fire.

Although he suffered serious burns to 60 percent of his body, Smalls didn’t think it was worth seeking medical treatment.

““Small managed to stagger into his home, refused medical attention and went to bed,” according to Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCausland. His friends ended up calling an ambulance for him several hours later.

This brings up one of the most horrifying stories I have ever written on the site, from five years ago. It happened in Arizona where a 45-year-old man and his cousin were drinking while preparing a 3-foot deep fire pit to roast a pig.…

BERKELEY TOWNSHIP, NJ – Authorities say 17-year-old Jared Marchiano was killed when a stone slab weighing about 650 pounds fell on him outside a business that makes countertops.

The teen was found by a passing motorist at around 6:40 a.m. Saturday at Stone N’ Counters South in Berkeley Township. According to Ocean County prosecutors, Marchiano was trying to walk between marble and granite slabs when a stone slab fell on top of him.

“Preliminarily, the way it looks, it was a tremendously tragic accident where the young fellow was trying to squeeze or walk between the two slabs and they became dislodged,” Al Della Fave. “Once it fell on him, no one was around to get it off.”

It’s not clear how long he’d been trapped under the stone slab before he was spotted and police were called. Marchiano was pronounced dead shortly after authorities arrived on scene.

The business, which is 10 minutes from the teen’s family home, was closed when the accident occurred, so it’s not clear why the teen was even at the site in the first place. …

WINTER GARDEN, FL – According to reports, 43-year-old David Rossman net a horrific end after he fell into a cardboard compactor while trying to clear a jam, and was subsequently crushed to death by the machine.

On Monday, Rossman was working at a Robert Wallick Associates, a recycling facility, when a machine that compacts cardboard became jammed. As Rossman tried to clear the jam, he fell in the machine and “got compacted in a stack of cardboard.”

The machine is 12 feet tall and you need to climb a ladder needed to reach the top. Several other employees were working at the time of the accident but none of them saw Rossman fall in. The machine was still running when his body was discovered.

Fire crews were called and were able to get Rossman out of the machine about 15 minutes later. According to Winter Garden police Lt. Scott Allen, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is now investigating and will determine if the business was following the appropriate safety measures.…

PORT ARTHUR, TX – Investigators say 72-year-old James Rogers died inside his Corvette, along with his dog, after he was unable to open the doors or windows of his car.

After Rogers finished eating at a Waffle House last week where he is a regular, he got into his 2007 Corvette with his dog, Leia.

What Rogers didn’t know was that a loose battery cable was the reason why his car would not start, and also why he was unable to unlock the doors or roll down the windows. Even worse, Rogers had accidentally left his phone in the restaurant.

Eventually another customer noticed Rogers unresponsive in the car and they, along with store employees, tried to get the doors open. Firefighters arrived and busted out a window, but by then it was too late. Both Rogers and his dog would die from heat exhaustion.

What makes this story so tragic is that had Rogers read the manual to his car, he would have known that the Corvette is equipped with a manual release on the driver’s side of the car that bypasses the battery and will unlock the doors.…

FAIR OAKS, CA – Police say 21-year-old Elijah Lambert is facing a murder charge after a bulletproof vest being worn by a friend did not work as advertised.

At around 9:45 Friday night, Lambert and some others were hanging out on the American River Bike Trail near Bannister Park, messing around with a handgun and a bulletproof vest.

At some point the group decided to test out the effectiveness of the vest, so 19-year-old Miguel Martinez agreed to put it on and allowed Lambert to shoot him. Their test results revealed the vest to be a tad lacking in the bulletproofing department.

“The bullet penetrated the top of his vest,” said Martinez’ brother, Tom Cline. “my brother was hit, my brother said he couldn’t breathe.”

Cline said that after the shooting, one girl ran for help while two guys tried carrying Martinez out of the woods. Police arrived on the scene but it was too late for Martinez, who would be pronounced dead at the hospital.

The sheriff’s department said the killing was unintentional but have charged Lambert with homicide and have booked him into Sacramento County Main Jail without bail.…

CHICAGO, IL – Kyle Kirchoff died over the weekend after he fell from a catwalk during a Chevelle concert at the Aragon Ballroom.

The incident happened at around 10:20 p.m. Friday while Chevelle were on stage. Kirchhoff, 24, and two of his friends were on the Aragon’s second-floor balcony when they went through a door that took them to a catwalk.

After watching the show for a bit from their new vantage point, Kirchoff’s friends noticed he was no longer with them. They went looking for him and found that he’d fallen about 6 to 8 feet and was impaled through the chest by two metal rods protruding from the floor.

Chevelle cut their performance short as first-responders arrived and attended to Kirchhoff., but he would be pronounced dead about 30 minutes later at Weiss Memorial Hospital.

The band would later post on their Facebook page, apologizing to their fans for cutting the show short and wishing Kirchoff a quick recovery.

“To our fans at the Chicago show: We are very sorry we had to end the show early.…

BILLINGS, MT – Mackeon Schulte was shot and killed early Sunday morning after the 15-year-old scared his friend by knocking and throwing pebbles at his bedroom window.

According to police, a boy woke up to noises and saw two faces looking through his window early Sunday morning.

Not realizing those faces belonged to two of his friends, the boy fired a shot from a gun he kept in his bedroom, striking Schulte in the head. The other boy was not injured, but Schulte would be pronounced dead at the hospital.

According to a statement by Billings Police Chief Rich St. John, Schulte and the boy who was with him were spending the night together and decided to pay their friend a visit at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday.

“It’s a tragedy,” said John. “We have to investigate at this point for what it is, but it’s a tragedy all around.”

No arrests have been made at this time, but investigators are meeting with the county attorney’s office to determine how to proceed.…

Friends and family were gathered at a home Sunday morning where the two girls were outside playing on a swing that allows people to use a rope to swing into a nearby pool.

For reasons still unknown, the contraption snapped at its base. Both girls were struck by the swing, and both were knocked into the pool.

When firefighters arrived at the scene the owner of the home, a doctor, had pulled the 7-year-old from the water and was performing CPR.

The girl died from head injuries as she was being airlifted to Children’s Phoenix Hospital. The 14-year-old was taken to the hospital in critical condition where she underwent surgery for shoulder and head injuries. She is expected to survive.

Neither of the two girls lived at the home and they were not related. According to authorities, adults were present and the incident appears to be a very unfortunate accident.…

Alexis Keslar was pushing her twin sons, Silas and Eli Keslar, along a canal Friday when she let go of the stroller’s handle to swat at a bee. This caused the stroller to roll away from her and into the canal.

Keslar immediately jumped in to try and save her sons, who were both belted into the stroller, but the strong current washed the stroller away from her. She managed to climb back out an called for help.

Even after the canal’s water level was lowered and the flow reduced, it still took emergency workers an hour to find the boys. They were flown to the hospital where they were both pronounced dead.

According to Lt. Don Willits, the incident has been determined to be an accident and no charges are expected to be filed.

Yuma police said the paths along the canal are popular with joggers and bicyclists, adding that people often underestimate the speed of the canal’s current and how deep the water can be.…

The incident happened over the weekend as the 38-year-old mother of three was holding a small child in one arm and her 2-year-old in the other while at the zoo’s cheetah attraction.

Somehow the boy slipped from her arms and ended up falling around 10 feet over a protective railing, landing into the cheetah’s den. The cheetahs never approached the boy after he landed, nor did they approach when Schwab and her husband jumped in to retrieve him. The boy was taken to the hospital to treat a leg injury.

Charges were filed against Schwab after several witnesses told investigators they saw the child being held over the railing of the exhibit. If she’s convicted, she faces six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Depending on the outcome of the investigation, Schwab may also be unemployed. She was the assistant director at the Sawmill Road KinderCare in Columbus, but communications coordinator Colleen Moran said Schwab “will remain out of the center while this issue is investigated and addressed.”

The director of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium said zoo habitats for animals are designed for the safety of the animals and the guests, but guests are expected to use common sense (ha!) and follow zoo rules when viewing animals.…

BONNEY LAKE, WA – A mother, father and their infant son were crushed to death when a concrete wall fell from a state Route 410 overpass under renovation and landed on the family’s truck.

East Pierce Fire & Rescue officials said the accident happened before 11 a.m. Monday when concrete and other materials fell off the overpass and landed on the family’s pickup as they drove down Angeline Road East.

It took crews almost eight hours to remove the debris from the truck and realize that there were three people dead inside. Their names have not been released, but police say they were a couple in their 20s and their 6-month-old baby.

No word on how the “very heavy” concrete structure fell, but a construction crew had been working on a project to replace and extend a sidewalk on that overpass. The part that fell was part of the original overpass, which was built in 1992.

“The type of work that was going on shouldn’t have resulted in anything falling,” said Bonney Lake Public Works Director Dan Grigsby.…